Since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the season, defenceman Mikhail Sergachev is proving his worth. The 26-year-old was originally drafted ninth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2016. He only played four games with Montreal and was then traded to Tampa in the Jonathan Drouin deal. The Utah Hockey Club gave up a haul to Tampa Bay that included J.J. Moser, top prospect Connor Geekie and draft picks in exchange for the 6-foot-1 Russian. The move significantly bolstered Utah’s blueline, which is now heavily depleted due to a few injuries. Sergachev has played well for his new team and will continue to be an important player for Utah.
Looking for Bounce Back Year
Last season is definitely one Sergachev wants to come back from. After suffering a major leg injury, Sergachev missed most of the season and only played in 34 games. With 16 points already this season, he leads all Utah defencemen in the category. With this being his first season in Utah, the two-time Stanley Cup Champion already averages 25:44 of ice-time, which is ranked third among all defencemen. That’s more playing time this season than any of his seven with Tampa Bay. With Sergachev at the top of the defence, Utah looks to come back from a rocky start to the season.
Sergachev is already close to matching most of his stats from last season. Last year, he had 53 shots on goal, 69 blocked shots, 36 hits, and 142 total shot attempts. This season, Sergachev has 39 shots, 40 blocked shots, 15 hits, and 108 shot attempts. That also includes two game-winning goals, tied for first among defencemen. With him almost reaching last year’s numbers, that’s a step in the right direction for Sergachev and Utah. With Utah’s defence having trouble staying healthy, they will rely heavily on him to put up points and be the stalwart on the blueline.
Finding His Scoring Touch
Although he’s known more for defence and assists, Sergachev has scored quite a few goals as of late. Sergachev has found the back of the net four times in the last seven games. Currently, at six goals, he’s already close to tying his career high of 10. The biggest one recently was an overtime winner against the same team that drafted him, the Canadiens. Sergachev logged 30:43 of ice-time in the game, his highest number this season and has six points in the past nine games. He’s one goal behind Utah captain Clayton Keller and is tied with Logan Cooley.
SERGY WITH THE OT WINNER!!!!
LET’S GO!!! pic.twitter.com/54WrOotwDG
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) November 27, 2024
Sergachev’s six goals also has him ranked sixth among all NHL defencemen. He’s in top company with the likes of Quinn Hughes, Roman Josi, and Rasmus Dahlin. This trends well for Utah as they may have a scoring defenceman that doesn’t only defend, but provides offence. The only issue right now with Sergachev is the amount of times he’s given the puck up. Sergachev leads all Utah players with 42 giveaways this season. He’s still Utah’s top two-way defenceman, but he must take better care of the puck for the team to succeed.
Why He Needs to Stay Healthy
Already missing defencemen because of injury, Utah will need Sergachev to stay healthy for the rest of the season. Utah has many holes to fill on defence and losing their biggest defenceman would really make things difficult. Sergachev plays a lot of minutes, so he needs to be extra careful and avoid any unnecessary collisions. The injury last season was very serious and put him out for many months, so Sergachev must be cautious while playing. His importance to this Utah team can’t be overstated and they’ll look for Sergachev, an alternate captain, to lead them on defence going forward.
Main Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
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